Silver nanowire/carbon nanotube/cellulose hybrid papers for electrically conductive and electromagnetic interference shielding elements

Abstract We report the microstructures, electrical conductivity, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of a series of hybrid cellulose papers coated alternatively with silver nanowire (AgNW) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), which are fabricated by controlling the dip-coating sequence and cycle. SEM images and EDS data reveal that AgNWs and/or MWCNTs are sequentially coated on the surfaces of the cellulose papers with increasing the dip-coating cycle and the coating density of the particles decreases gradually in thickness direction of the papers. This result is supported by the anisotropic apparent electrical conductivity of AgNW/MWCNT/cellulose hybrid papers in in-plane and thickness directions. In addition, the apparent electrical conductivity of the hybrid papers in the in-plane direction increases significantly from 0.17–0.22 S/cm to 2.55–2.83 S/cm with increasing the coating cycle from 2 to 10, although it is higher for the hybrid cellulose papers with AgNW top-coating layers than the hybrid papers with MWCNT top-coating layers at the same coating cycle. This result indicates that a highly effective and conductive AgNW/MWCNT network is formed on the cellulose fibers in a layer-by-layer manner. For the hybrid papers with 2.55–2.83 S/cm, high EMI shielding effectiveness of ∼23.8 dB at 1 GHz is achieved.